


Not My Name

by theamazingkrypto



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Awkward Flirting, Coming Out, F/F, Fluff, Pre-Relationship, Social Anxiety
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 16:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6762340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theamazingkrypto/pseuds/theamazingkrypto
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Oh my gods," Hinoka whispered. "You <em>like</em> that blond barista."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not My Name

"Ugh," Hinoka said, slamming her forehead repeatedly on Sakura's shoulder. "I am going to _die_."

Sakura bit her lip. "I-it's not _that_ bad."

"We've been in this line for _eight minutes_ ," Hinoka stressed. "Why couldn't we have just gone to _Jakob's_? This one's so dark and... _hipster_."

"Be-because-" Sakura tried to not let her gaze wander over to the counter, four people in front of them. Or - more specifically - the _person_ behind it.

But Hinoka was always too good at reading her.

Her arm was seized in her sister's vice grip. "Oh my gods," Hinoka whispered. "You _like_  that blond barista."

"Wh-what?" Sakura squeaked. Her face was already beginning to heat up. "No I d-don't."

"Holy fuck," Hinoka continued anyway. "Holy _fuck_." The vice grip gave way to a hard pat on the back. "My baby sister - eighteen years old and finally getting her first crush."

"I-it's not my first crush," she mumbled. "It's just..." _My first one on a girl_ hung in the air, but Hinoka seemed to hear it anyway.

"Wait. Fuck. You know that-" Hinoka paused, trying to collect her words. "You know that we love you, right? All of us. No matter what. I mean - We don't care. Like, in high school, Ryoma literally _fucked_ around with some guys-"

"O-kay!" Sakura interrupted her. "I do _not_ \- no thank you. That's - I don't need to hear that."

Hinoka ran a hand through her hair and chuckled at herself. "Right. Sorry."

"But," Sakura tugged Hinoka into a hug so quick she had pulled away before she got her next words out, "th-thank you."

Grinning slightly, Hinoka ruffled her hair a little. "No problem, little sister. But, I'm afraid, this is where we bid our goodbyes."

"What?" Sakura asked, but Hinoka was already making her way out the door.

"I don't want to get in the way of _anything_." Hinoka gave her a wink Sakura had seen her gave her lacrosse teammates many times; the _go get 'em, tiger,_ wink. Except this one was slightly different. Sakura was sure her neck was red by now, too. "See you at home."

And then her sister - her only shield between her and her new crush - was gone.

She was tempted to follow her; tempted to throw in the towel and give up on this not-even-there romance. But then-

"Next!"

Panicked, Sakura spun on her heel. The last coffee-seeking student had already gotten their fill, and now it was Sakura's turn. Oh gods, what would she _say_? What does she _look like_? Her hands fly up to her hair to fix the damage Hinoka probably caused. 

"Are you going or not?" snapped the person behind her - Selena, Sakura barely remembered from the one general math class they shared. "Some of us have places to _be_ , you know."

"R-r-right," Sakura said. "S-sorry."

Keeping her head down, Sakura approached the counter. She flattened her palms on the fake wood for the inevitable moment when she would look up and lose her balance.

"What would you like?" the voice that had wormed its way into Sakura's dreams recently asked.

"W-well. I, um..."

Selena sneered behind her. "Would you look up before we all turn eighty? Gwads."

It might have sounded harsh (okay, it was _meant_ to be harsh) but the words gave Sakura that little extra push to finally look at her - and, _yep_ , Elise was every bit as stunning as she remembered. Her curly hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and the purple streaks were starting to fade. New black-framed glasses Sakura was ninety percent sure Elise didn't need sat on her nose. And the smile. That _smile_.

The one that had greeted her warmly, even at one in the morning, when Sakura's professor and classmates had turned a cold shoulder and she was struggling to make sense of the class. She'd needed a recharge, and the hipster central of campus was the only cafe open that early in the morning. Elise had been working the graveyard shift, and - even though they hadn't exchanged more than Sakura's admittedly bad coffee order - Sakura found herself coming back.

Shallow as it might be, Sakura was infatuated, without knowing anything about Elise past she had a breathtaking smile, worked here on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays, was around Sakura's age, and she maybe didn't need her glasses.

"I, um..." Sakura stared. She then realized that she was staring and switched her gaze to the menu behind Elise, pretending to contemplate her choices. "Uh..."

"Coffee, black, with whipped cream?" Elise suggested.

"Y-yeah - Wait." She looked back at Elise. "How d-did you...?"

"Know?" Elise filled in again. She winked, and Sakura wasn't sure if she was breathing anymore. Oh well. "Don't worry; I'm not a stalker or anything. You've just been coming in a lot lately. Almost a regular."

"Al-almost?"

"Well, I mean, you switched it up today. Brought your girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" Sakura cocked her head. She stopped by the table Mozu had claimed today to say hi, but the only person she was in here _with_ was - "Not girlfriend!" Sakura yelped, face on fire. "Very sister! No significant other at this-at this moment, no!"

Sakura felt like dying because of her stupid-ness, but then Elise was grinning something almost...relieved. "Oh, good," she said. _Oh good?_ What did  _that_ mean? "I mean, sorry." She wrinkled her nose. "I have a lot of siblings, so it's always gross when people think we're, like, _dating_. Super gross."

The list of stuff she knew about Elise had now swelled to a whole five things. "Y-yeah," Sakura mumbled, playing with the hem of her skirt. "I know the feeling..."

Elise giggled. "Well, _obviously_."

Behind Sakura, Selena made another noise. Elise rolled her eyes. "I know, I know," she said. She pulled cup and Sharpie out and looked at Sakura expectantly. "Name?"

She furrowed her brows. Elise had never needed her name before, so... Sakura glanced over her shoulder and realized about a dozen more hipsters had materialized in line. "Oh! Um...It's S-Sakura."

Elise hummed and nodded, sticking her tongue out as she darted down the name. Which, Sakura was sure it wasn't actually her name, since Elise was taking way longer to "spell" her name then it actually took. Sakura stepped aside without a fuss. It was funny to see how baristas butchered her name.

Her name was called not too long later by a guy with curly hair - who, now that she paid attention, looked like he could be Elise's older brother. She took her cup without looking at the name yet and hurried outside.

Elise waved at her. "Hope you enjoy your coffee, Sakura!" 

Was it just her, or was Elise blushing? She shook her head as she pushed open the door. It was just wistful thinking.

She waited until she was further along her path back to the house she shared with her siblings to look at her name. Contrary to her expectations, it was actually right.

A dot of Sharpie poked out from behind Sakura's palm, and she turned the cup around in her hand to look at it. Her heart did a little tap dance as she realized that Elise had written _more_.

**Sorry if I'm overstepping here, but maybe we could get together sometime? I'd really ~~love~~ like to get to know you. But only if you want!**

Sakura found what was most likely her number under that. Below that was an extra little message:  **btws I think you're really cute ;)**

She had most definitely stopped breathing this time. This goofy grin widened across her face. She felt like singing. Her siblings would be so proud. _She's_ proud of herself.  _She had just scored her crush's number_.

Even though it was a warm spring day, she held the coffee close to her tingly chest. She whipped out her phone and created a new conversation.

**Hi. This is Sakura.**

**...And I think you're really cute too.**


End file.
